Updated: Montgomery County state of emergency and travel advisory lifted

By HEATHER NELLIS

Recorder News Staff

FONDA — With what’s anticipated as the worst of the storm behind the region, Montgomery County has lifted its state of emergency and associated travel advisory.

The declaration was lifted at the recommendation of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, which lifted the travel advisory around 1 p.m. Officials said the areas of the county most affected by the storm have been cleaned up by local highway departments and utility crews.

Motorists are still being urged to be vigilant, however, as there is still a chance of more trees and power lines falling throughout the day, officials said.

National Grid's outage maps on its website indicated 568 of its 23,310 customers were still without power around 2 p.m. All outages are expected to be restored within the hour.

“There are still trees down and power outages, but nothing serious

enough to keep the state of emergency in place,” Board of Supervisors

Chairman John Thayer, supervisor of Root, said early this morning.

Of the damage caused overnight by Post Tropical Cyclone Sandy, appointed Emergency Management Director Adam Schwabrow said it didn’t appear to be anything major.

“It seemed Minden, St. Johnsville and the town of Mohawk were struck the hardest in Montgomery County,” Schwabrow said. “They were the towns that had the most downed trees and power lines.”

Of the city of Amsterdam, Battalion Fire Chief Mike DePasquale said the last storm-related call was logged at 10 p.m. on Stella Lane.

“It wasn’t too bad,” he said. “There was some wind damage, but outside of that, it was mainly power outages on the South Side, and it stands now that everything should be restored shortly.”

“Our staff was on top of our game,” DePasquale said. “Everyone did what they were supposed to do, the public listened to what we had to say, and no one got hurt. It’s a big change from [Tropical Storms] Irene and Lee. We all fared quite well in the county and in the city.”

Thayer thinks the municipalities made all the right calls in regard to preparedness.

“You prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” he said. “The key is safety, and we want people to be safe. I think everything the county, the sheriff’s department, the fire departments, and the city did was prudent, and if we had to do it all over again, we’d do exactly what we did.”